What’s the U.S.-China trade war all about?

U.S. President Donald Trump chats with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony in Beijing in November 2017. A couple of months later, Trump imposed tariffs on imports of solar panels, leading to a series of tit-for-tat retaliatory tariffs ever since. (Andy Wong/The Associated Press)

There is no doubt that the tensions between the 2 largest economies in the world are also trapping Canadians, in fact, the whole world.

It should be noted that US President Donald Trump welcomed Beijing’s chief trade negotiator in Washington on Thursday. This, in order to carry out trade talks between the two largest economies in the world, as the tariff threats that shake the market and warnings about countermeasures, continue to burn.

Now, it is necessary to emphasize that before the talks, there were abrupt changes in the global financial markets, with the Dow Jones falling more than 400 points on Tuesday after Trump issued a threat through Twitter that it would increase tariffs on Chinese products. worth $ 200 billion at 25 percent from 10 percent. In addition to this, he threatened that more would come “soon”.

Actions that affect everyone

It should be noted that Beijing has promised to respond “in kind”. And consumers around the world, even in Canada, should expect to pay more for goods the longer the trade war lasts. All of which is making an unpredictable negotiation in the next two days.

Likewise, in effect of global effect will affect the Canadian economy. Zhao said that if the trade war continues, it will have a negative impact on world GDP growth and interrupt the complex global supply chains that are crucial to the success of US companies.

Canadians may have to pay more for consumer goods such as televisions and tires.

On the other hand, the economic growth of the United States reported last month exceeded expectations. In this context, Trump’s threats to impose additional tariffs, if carried out, could effectively close the US market to China, which will be a major blow to the economy of the Asian superpower.